Fire-escape.



CHARLES Ii. LINDQUIST, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 24, 1907.

Application filed September 5. 1907- Serial No. 391,4:14.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES L. LIND QUIST, a citizen of the United States, and re- 1 siding at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire- Escapes, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to fire-escape apparatus for use on or in connection with buildings of considerable height and having a number of stories or floors and the object thereof is to provide an improved device or apparatus of this class by means of which parties in any of the separate stories of. the building may escape therefrom in case of fire, said device or apparatus being also adapted to be operated from any of the floors or stories of the building and with this and other objects in view the invention consists in a device or apparatus of the class specified constructed as hereinafter described and claimed. The invention is fully disclosed in the fol lowing specification, of which the accom panying drawing forms a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and in which;-

Figure 1 is a sectional view of one wall of a building and showing the separate floors or stories thereof and provided with windows corresponding with said floors or stories and showing my improved fire-escape apparatus; F ig. 2 a similar view on an enlarged scale and showing details of construction and showing also a fire-escape apparatus in position for use together with a portion of the wall of a building and one window; Fig. 3 a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a fire-escape apparatus folded as when not in use, the wall of the building and window being not shown; Fig. 4 a view on an enlarged scale of a part of j the apparatus which, in practice, is located in the basementof the building and which is also shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 a section on the line 6*6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 a sectional view of i a detail of the construction on the line 7-7 of Fig. 2; Fig. 8 a section on the line 88 of Fig. 2 Fig. 9 a section on the line 99 of Fig. 2; and, Fig. 10 a diagrammatic view of vertically arranged ropes which form a part of my improved apparatus.

In the drawing forming part of this specification, I have shown at a one wall of a budding having a basement o and a number of stories a a and a separated by the usual floor and ceiling construction a and the wall a is provided with windows a which corre-- spond wit-h the separate stories of the building.- W'ithin the building and adjacent to the wall a is a stand pipe 1) which passes vertically through the separate stories and the floor and ceiling construction thereof, and :connected with the stand pipe b in the top story a and on the side of said pipe adjacent to the wall a is a casing 6 shown on an enlarged scale in Fig. 7. The casing b is provided in the outer side thereof with a verti cally arranged slot and in said casing is a slide 0 having an arm 0 which passes out through the slot b and in the opposite sides of said slide are pivoted dogs '0 between i which is placed an expansion spring 0, and

the dogs 0 when in their outermost position as shown in Fig. 7, enter corresponding recesses b in the casing b, and mounted in the opposite sides of the casing b are headed pins 0 the inner ends of which are adapted to bear on the dogs 0 and by pressing said pins inwardly the dogs 0 will be released from the casing Z) and the slide a may be moved vertically in said casing.

Pivoted to the arms 0 is a supplemental arm (Z, and pivoted to the bottom of said arm is a brace d which is also pivoted to a bracket secured to the stand pipe b.

In the basement 0 of the building and below the stand pipe 6, and at the opposite sides thereof are vertically arranged rods 6 on the upper end portions of which are spiral springs c and on the lower end portions spiral springs c and secured to the bottom of the floor and ceiling construction a between the basement a and thefirst story a of the building are hangers e, between which are mounted sheaves c three of which are shown. Mounted on the rods 6 is a vertically movable cross head 6 having upright bearings e between which are mounted sheaves 6 four of which are shown, and said sheaves are, in the form of construction shown, arranged in pairs, and secured to one of the bearings 6 the central bearing as shown in the drawing, is a rope e WVound on the sheaves e and c is a rope f one end of which is secured to one of the hangers e as shown at f and the other end of which is passed up wardly through the stand pipe 6 and out through said stand pipe around a pulley m at the bottom of the casing 6 and said rope is also passed around a pulley f mounted in the upper part of the brace d and formed into a depending loop f which supports. a flexible cage or basket f and the end of said rope is carried upwardly from the cage or basket f and connected with a spiral spring suspended from the outer end of the supplemental arm d. The rope e is also passed upwardly through the stand pipe I) to the top portion thereof immediately below the floor and ceiling construction a at the top of the top story a of the building, where it is passed out through the stand pipe and around a pulley g mounted on said stand pipe and provided with a handle g and said stand pipe is also provided at the top of each story above the basement with pulleys g and 9 similar to the pulley g, and connected with the rope e at a predetermined point below the pulleys g and 9 when the parts of the apparatus are in their normal position, are cords g which are passed upwardly in the stand pipe and out through the same and over the pulleys g and g and provided with handles g.

The cage or basket f is provided with a bail h in the top of which is mounted a pulley h around which the rope f 3 is passed to form the loop f and pivoted in said bail below the pulley h 'is a brake 713 having a handle li by means of which the brake 7? may be operated by a person in the cage-or basket f and the brake h is designed to operate on the pulley k The sides of the cage f are provided at their lower ends with cross head members 71 to which are pivoted semi-circular yokes 7L6 with which the top side portions of the cage or basket f 6 are connected, these parts being clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the connection of the parts 72/6 with the parts 7f is similar-to that of an elbowjoint, said parts It being adapted to be folded upwardly as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and in full lines in Fig. 3, and to be held in a horizontal position When lowered as shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2-.

The stand pipe I) is also provided in the separate stories of the building with alarm devices i shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 6 and adapt ed to be operated by a pull on the handles 9 of the cords g and by a pull on the handle 9' of the rope e, and said alarm devicesa're of the following construction. The pulleys g, (1 and g are mounted on shafts i and secured to the stand pipe I) are bracket arms i which carry a bell or gong "L", and the shafts i are provided with cross heads i having pivoted hammers i adapted to operate in connection with inwardly directed lugs or projections i with which the bell or gong i is provided, and any pull on the handles g or g of the rope e or cords will operate the corresponding alarm-devices i. The stand pipe I) is also provided with a brake device j in each story of the building, and said brake devices are of the following construction. The stand pipe 5 is provided at suitable points with an opening in which is secured. a block 9' having a yoke-shaped member y which extends into the pipe I) and on which is mounted a link member j through which the rope f passes, and said link member is provided at one end with an extension j which serves to center it in the stand pipe 1).

Connected with the end of the link member 3' adjacent to the block j by a swivel connection is a pin is which passes outwardly through the block 3' and said block is pro vided on its outer side with a wedge-shaped or cam face, and mounted on the pin is a corresponding cam or wedge-shaped block 76 having a handle 1:7 and by turning the block 76 in one direction by means of the handle 76 the pin 76 will be drawn outwardly and the link member 9' drawn in the same direction, and the rope f will be pressed between the part of the link member and the inner cross head portion of the yoke 7' as will be readily understood.

The brakes j may be operated from the floor of any of the separate stories of the building and the alarm device at '1', may be operated by a party standing in one of the windows M, or on any suitable support placed within the compartments of the separate stories of the building, and by a pullon the handles 9 or g.

The cross head a mounted on the rods e is of considerable weight and normally rests on the springs e as shown in Fig. 4, and said cross head serves as a weight to keep the rope f between the pulleys e and a fully extended and also serves to draw the basket up to its fullest extent when it is necessary to operate the apparatus as hereinafter described.

The operation is as follows :Suppose the parts to be folded in the position shown in Fig. 3 all that is necessary to throw the apparatus into operative position is to raise the supplemental arm (Z into a horizontal position as shown in Fig. 2. In this operation, the slide 0 shown in Fig. 7 moves downwardly into the position shown in said figure and the dogs 0 lock said slide in said position, and the arm 0 which is connected with said slide in the position shown in Fig. 2, in which position the supplemental arm cl is supported by the brace (1 If now a party steps into the cage or basket from the top window (4 the rope f will be drawn out and the basket or cage f lowered, in which operation the cross head or weight 6 is drawn upwardly. The descent of the cage or basketf may be regulated by the brake 7L3 operated by the party within the cage or basket or by any of the brakes 7' from either story or compartment of the building. When the cage or basketf reaches the ground the party or parties therein, step out and the cage or basket is automatically raised, the cross head or weight 6" dropping into the position shown in Fig. 4. In this operation the springs e at the top of the rods e and the spring a which connects the rope f with the supplemental arm (1 act as buffers or cushions to check or stop a rapid descent if the brakes h and j are not operated. When the cage or basket f is raised as shown in Fig. 2, it may be lowered to any story or compartment of the building by a pull on either of the handles 9 or g as will be readily understood, which operation will raise the weight or cross head c and lower the cage or basket.

It will be observed that a pull on either of the handles g or 9 will also operate one of the alarms i, as hereinbefore described, and in this way, parties on the various floors of the building or in the various stories thereof may be warned of fire.

In order to fold the parts into the position shown in Fig. 3, the pins 0* are pressed inwardly and a pull on the outer end portion of the arm d will fold the various parts in the position shown in said figure.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A fire-escape apparatus, comprising a stand pipe, a casing connected with the upper end portion of the stand pipe, a slide movable vertically in said casing and provided with an arm which passes outwardly therethrough, means for locking said slide in its lowest position, a supplemental arm pivoted to said first named arm, a brace pivoted to the supplemental arm and to the stand pipe, a rope connected with the supplemental arm and adapted to support a cage or basket, said rope being passed around a pulley mounted in the end of the brace adjacent to the supplemental arm and over a pulley at the lower end of said casing and into and downwardly through said stand pipe, and means for operating said rope to raise and lower the cage or basket.

2. A fire-escape apparatus, comprising a stand pipe, a casing connected with the upper end portion of the stand pipe, a slide movable vertically in said casing and pro vided with an arm which passes outwardly therethrough, means for locking said slide in its lowest position, a supplemental arm pivoted to said first named arm, a'bra'ce pivoted to the supplemental arm and to the stand pipe, a rope connected with the supplemental arm and adapted to support a cage or basket, said rope being passed around a pulley mounted in the end of the brace adjacent to the supplemental arm and over a pulley at the lower end of said casing and into and downwardly through said stand pipe, means for operating said rope to raise and lower the cage or basket, and devices to control the descent of said cage or basket.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a stand pipewhich passes vertically through the separate stofeis of the building and into the basement, two vertically arranged rods mounted in the basement on the opposite sides of the stand pipe, a vertically movable weight mounted on said rods, sheaves connected with said weight, sheaves supported between the tops of said rods, a rope wound on said sheaves and one end of which is se cured and the other end passed up through said stand pipe, and another rope connected with said weight and passed up through said stand pipe.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, a stand. pipe which passes vertically through the separate stories of a building and into the basement, two vertically arranged rods mounted in the basement and on the opposite sides of the stand pipe, a vertically movable weight mounted on said rods, sheaves connected with said weight, sheaves supported between the tops of said rods, a rope wound around said sheaves and one end of which is secured and the other end passed up through said stand pipe, an arm connected Withthe top port-ion of the stand pipe and adapted to be projected through a window and folded inwardly thereof and with the outer end portion of which said rope is connected, a cage or basket adapted to be raised and lowered by said rope, and means for controlling the movement of said parts.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a stand pipe which passes vertically through the separate stories of a building and into the basement, two vertically arranged rods mounted in the basement and on the opposite sides of the stand pipe, a vertically movable weight mounted on. said rods, sheaves connected with said weight, sheaves supported between the tops of said rods, a rope wound around said sheaves and one end of which is secured and the other end passed up through said stand pipe, an arm connected with the top portion of the stand pipe and adapted to be projected through a window and folded inwardly thereof and with the outer end portion of which said rope is connected, a cage or basket adapted to be raised and lowered by said rope, means for controlling the movement of said parts, and devices for raising said weight when in its lowest position and sounding an alarm from the various floors or stories of the building.

6. In a fire-escape apparatus, a vertically arranged stand pipe, an arm pivoted to the top portion thereof so as to fold outwardly and inwardly. and adapted to be projected through a window, vertically arranged rods supported in the basement of the building on the opposite sides of the stand pipe, a vertically movable weight mounted on said rod, sheaves connected with said weight, other sheaves mounted between the tops of said rods, a rope mounted on said sheaves and one end of which is secured and the other passed up through said stand pipe and out around a pulley mounted below said arm and connected with the end of said arm, a cage or basket suspended by said rope, another rope connected with said weight and passed up through the stand pipe, and means for exerting a pull on said last named rope from either story or floor of the building and for operating an alarm device.

7. In a fire-escape apparatus, the combination of the stand pipe 6, the arm at in operatlve connection with said stand. plpe, the rods e mounted in the basement of the building below the stand pipe, the weight e mounted on said rods, the sheaves a connected with said weight, the sheaves 6 supported between the top portions of said rods, the rope f wound around said sheaves and passed up through said stand pipe and connected with said arm, the rope 3" connected with the weight a and passed up through said stand pipe, the cage or basket f supported by the rope f, and means for exerting a pull on the rope e from either story of the building, and operating an alarm device connected with the said stand pipe.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of the subscribing witnesses this 4th day of September 1907.

CHARLES L. LINDQUISI.

Witnesses C. E. MULREANY, M. E. Doom: 

